I have to chuckle at people that are overreacting from today's loss. Other than the pass blocking, which was absolutely embarrassing. The team looked great today and I really had no complaints. The pass rush had some bright spots, it was better than usual when they play New Orleans on the road. Babineaux still remains to be a savage and Peters was a bright spot. Osi is such a liability when teams run his way, but he got in Brees face a bunch of times. Pat Y calling him a non factor goes to prove that Pat Y clearly doesn't take notes.

Roddy was a non-factor and Samuel was out. They played a damn good game and it just didn't work out in the end. Say what you want about how he always plays well against New Orleans, Harry Douglas stepped up huge for all the heat he gets. Then it's so refreshing to have an actual game to the point where I want to see Jackson get carries more. Well done by him.

Not worried at all right now, it was a hard fought loss. I was annoyed, but still it's a good learning experience. As long as Baker and Holmes bounce back, the Rams will be beaten soundly. It will be a tall order with those two, as they were horrendous today. Also the safety play was pretty disappointing. DeCoud took some bad angles and Moore was out of position a few times. Still have no idea how Moore dropped that INT. At least the young corners were a bright spot for the most part.

For the record, neither of my negative topics suggest that the sky is falling. That said, the more I review what I saw today, the more I'm placing the blame for this on TD and the coaching staff.

In every practical respect, the team performed exactly as I expected them to, or better than I expected them to. When we consider the entire game, we had an RB who averaged 7 yards per carry, but only ran the ball 11 times. Our offense was able to move the ball down the field at will when we went with the hurry up offense, but once we got down to the red zone, we went back to huddling up and we weren't able to punch it in. We still lack that killer instinct that some folks don't want us to talk about. I think that this emanates from the coaching staff.

Defensively, we performed WAY better than I expected us to. I figured that the rookies would get picked on a bit more, but they were incredibly solid. For today, they looked like the best set of corners in the league. It's a crying shame that the same can not be said for our linebackers. At this point, I'd REALLY like to bench Dent and Nicholas and give Worrilow and Bartu a shot. Seriously, how much worse could they possibly be?

When we consider the entire game, we had an RB who averaged 7 yards per carry, but only ran the ball 11 times.

Outside his 50-yard run, Jackson averaged 2.7 yards on 10 carries. He was only successful on 4 of 11 runs, about 36% which is well below where you want him to be (45% or above).

RobertAP wrote:

We still lack that killer instinct that some folks don't want us to talk about. I think that this emanates from the coaching staff.

What are you talking about? Killer instinct? The Falcons lost yesterday because they did not execute not because they played scared at the end of the game or whatever this intangible quality that the Falcons supposedly lack. They drove down the field, just Steven Jackson dropped a TD pass. The Falcons didn't score earlier, because the OL stunk and put them in near impossible 3rd & long situations. Do you know how hard it is to convert a 3rd & 18? NFL teams do it about 14% of the time, or 1 in 7. So the Falcons lack killer instinct because they couldn't overcome those odds?

Is it the coaching staff's fault that Steven Jackson dropped the ball at the goalline, or that Matt Ryan locked into him before the ball was snapped?

Is it the coaching staff's fault that Julio Jones fumbled? Is the coaches' fault that Roddy White was playing at 85% or Asante Samuel's thigh injury didn't heal enough for him to play?

We've been through this song and dance countless times before, and it astounds me that someone as intelligent as you RobertAP still wants to hang the hat on the winning and losing of football games on the presence of some ethereal killer instinct. Did you watch any of the other games?

Did Dallas win because they had killer instinct, or did they win because the Giants turned the ball over 6 times and had to play without 2 starters on their OL and a 3rd string tailback for most of the game? Was it killer instinct that had the Giants still having a chance to win the game with 2 minutes left, and a lack of one on Dallas' part? Was it a lack of killer instinct that caused Da'Rel Scott to turn his head a half-second too late, which allowed the ball to deflect off his hand into the waiting arms of Brandon Carr (who clearly had killer instinct so that he was in the right spot on the field at that exact moment), and pick off the pass that led to Dallas' final TD which put the game away?

Did Denver pile on Baltimore because of a killer instinct, or because they out-executed them in the 3rd quarter? Where they got breaks thanks to a missed call on an incompletion to Wes Welker (which led to a score), a blocked punt (which led to a score), and a missed throw by Flacco that led to a three and out that then led to a score, where teh Broncos scored 21 points in 10 minutes. Did they make those plays because they possess a killer instinct instilled by John Fox & co. and Baltimore doesn't because John Harbaugh doesn't? Well, that's a stark change from just a 8 months ago, when I'm sure you would have been saying the EXACT opposite. So apparently John Fox figured something out in the off-season and instilled it in his team, and whatever Harbaugh had infused into his team last year, they completely forgot, right?

Did Lavonte David get that silly penalty against Geno Smith's scramble because he lacked killer instinct? And did Nick Folk make a 48 yard FG (a kick that NFL kickers make 62% of the time) because he had killer instinct?

Did DeAngelo Williams fumble with the Panthers driving to win the game come about because he lacked killer instinct? And was it his killer instinct instilled by Pete Carroll & Co. that led Tony McDaniel to recover the ball in the scrum instead of the 8 other Seahawk & Panther players that were in the dog pile?

Pudge, we got out to a 10 to nothing lead. We scored 7 more points in the next 3 quarters against a defense that was the worst in the league last year. We have a history of starting big, keeping it close, and finishing with a field goal. Your excuse in the playoffs was that those teams were better than ours. Your excuse this time is that we didn't execute. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT THE CULTURE?

Look, you obviously know that I'm pointing fingers at the offensive line. This may be the worst offensive line that the Falcons have ever put on the field. That said, we got out to a 10 nothing lead and blew it. Yet we were able to march down the field, unopposed at the end of the game. Where the hell was that for 3 quarters?

This team has a culture of getting out to a lead, sitting on that lead, and then having to come back at the end of the game. I'm freaking tired of that culture.

We still lack that killer instinct that some folks don't want us to talk about. I think that this emanates from the coaching staff.

Quote:

What are you talking about? Killer instinct? The Falcons lost yesterday because they did not execute not because they played scared at the end of the game or whatever this intangible quality that the Falcons supposedly lack

Robert I think if you said consistency that would make more sense. Then I can explain that, its what many have said " we're only as consistent as our offensive line or defensive line" (I understand "killer instinct" is a "term" but the salary cap has taken that away from most NFL teams....)

This may be the worst O-line in the last 5 years....but not forever by a long shot.That consistency you've wanted was in earlier years stopped by other Qbs having all day to pass, or either flaws of ours, but I sincerely don't think by a attitude.

I will say when your lines are good; their attitude's are usually "we're bad" meaningtough. When your skill positions are good without the line there's not much they can say because the Qb. isn't given the chance to execute!! You take away Ryan and you've basically taken away our 3 other stars on offense.

Ryan or most Qbs can't be all they can be if their consistently hurried as Ryan often is!!

I hate to use the word, "consistency," because that's Mike Smith's word. Dan Reeves word was, "execution." It's horribly easy for a coach to say, "we weren't consistent," or, "we didn't execute." That's not to say that they are incorrect, it's just over simplified. In terms of players not executing, there's only two on offense that really stick out to me, Sam Baker, and Lamar Holmes. I have been quite consistent of my criticism of those two guys in my posts following the game.

That said, I don't think that the entirety of the loss falls on those two players. When our powerhouse of an offense only manages 17 points, and most of the players did their jobs, I have to look at the coaching staff. Did we have the right game plan to exploit the weaknesses that the other team had? Did the coaching staff get complacent with their play calls after we got out to a 10 point lead? Where was the no-huddle for the majority of the game? Why didn't we take more shots down the field? (the offensive line sucks, that's why)

At the end of the day, a lot of the problem is that our OTs are bad. I blame the entire front office for that. TD gets the lion's share, but Smith & co have to accept blame for that as well. If those guys aren't going to work out, he needs to tell TD, "GET ME SOMEONE TO PROTECT MY QB." Frankly, I believe that the entire staff is complacent with Matt's ability to get rid of the ball quickly. If that's the case, they need to adopt a true west coast offense so that the receivers are running routes that allow for Matt to get rid of the ball quickly.

I think the stat about Jackson and the running game success is extremely misleading. I'm not saying Jackson was extremely productive, but you saw him moving forward and working for every yard. It's far different from a Turner situation.

Also agree about the killer instinct, even though I'm not sure how they can have one when Roddy was hurt yesterday and the o-line stunk. Sam "big bucks" Baker really needs to bounce back.

Well then as far as I can remember the only Falcon team with a killer instinct was the 98 Falcons. We lead the league in getting sacks, and Jamal & Chandler had career years..... In other words a bunch of players must always be playing good.

I can't even remember us having 4 or 5 good players on defense. When other teams consistently make 40 yard gains against our defense giving their Qb a lot of time; its hard to be playing good. When the Saints have the ball 10 more minutes than we did, I don't see how we develop what we want during a game.....

I guess we're saying the same thing, I just think consistency becomes before attitude; or we're thinking like Holmes?? You can't really have a " killer attitude" until you can move the chains a few times; not be 3out of 11 on third down conversions.

Well, to state my thinking in more clear terms... Yesterday, we drove down the field on our first two possessions, and then we did nothing till the third quarter. From there, we did nothing till the last drive of the game. Again, this team gets out to a nice lead, then goes to sleep. I can't help but throw that in the face of the coach.

Pudge, we got out to a 10 to nothing lead. We scored 7 more points in the next 3 quarters against a defense that was the worst in the league last year. We have a history of starting big, keeping it close, and finishing with a field goal. Your excuse in the playoffs was that those teams were better than ours. Your excuse this time is that we didn't execute. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT THE CULTURE?

Look, you obviously know that I'm pointing fingers at the offensive line. This may be the worst offensive line that the Falcons have ever put on the field. That said, we got out to a 10 nothing lead and blew it. Yet we were able to march down the field, unopposed at the end of the game. Where the hell was that for 3 quarters?

This team has a culture of getting out to a lead, sitting on that lead, and then having to come back at the end of the game. I'm freaking tired of that culture.

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Your perspective is both flawed and naive. Because a team is capable of scoring with relative ease on 1 drive in a game, that means they should be able to do so on the other 8-15?

RobertAP wrote:

I hate to use the word, "consistency," because that's Mike Smith's word. Dan Reeves word was, "execution." It's horribly easy for a coach to say, "we weren't consistent," or, "we didn't execute." That's not to say that they are incorrect, it's just over simplified.

Pot meet kettle.

No more simplified than a fan that simply says the reason why the Falcons didn't score X amount of times is because they lack a killer instinct.

Pudge, we got out to a 10 to nothing lead. We scored 7 more points in the next 3 quarters against a defense that was the worst in the league last year.

Last I checked it was 2013, not 2012. When will people understand/realize that every season is different?

RobertAP wrote:

We have a history of starting big, keeping it close, and finishing with a field goal. Your excuse in the playoffs was that those teams were better than ours. Your excuse this time is that we didn't execute. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT THE CULTURE?

Look, you obviously know that I'm pointing fingers at the offensive line. This may be the worst offensive line that the Falcons have ever put on the field. That said, we got out to a 10 nothing lead and blew it. Yet we were able to march down the field, unopposed at the end of the game. Where the hell was that for 3 quarters?

This team has a culture of getting out to a lead, sitting on that lead, and then having to come back at the end of the game. I'm freaking tired of that culture.

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Your perspective is both flawed and naive. Because a team is capable of scoring with relative ease on 1 drive in a game, that means they should be able to do so on the other 8-15?

RobertAP wrote:

I hate to use the word, "consistency," because that's Mike Smith's word. Dan Reeves word was, "execution." It's horribly easy for a coach to say, "we weren't consistent," or, "we didn't execute." That's not to say that they are incorrect, it's just over simplified.

Pot meet kettle.

No more simplified than a fan that simply says the reason why the Falcons didn't score X amount of times is because they lack a killer instinct.

To be fair, I also pointed out the tangible issues that are plaguing us right now. Of course, you call that, "crying over spilled milk."

The only tangible way to measure the quality of a coach is wins and losses. I have pointed out specific issues with Mike Smith and his coaching style, and you can go back and see those issues and how they apply on game day. Then again, it's probably fresh on everyone's minds that I called for Smith's head in the off-season, so I can understand why you'd think that my stance is a bit loony at this point.

Last I checked it was 2013, not 2012. When will people understand/realize that every season is different?

Robert this is not directed at you; its just some years things don't work out as planned. People calling for trading for a tackle is crazy. I mean the very people who didn't perform Sunday may get better; but we can't say anything is set because those that played well may not continue the good play.

My concern is the problems from pre-season are the very things hurting us now. Yet with Roddy hurt that affects Julio, and others. The season is a marathon and our first goal is to win a game, then get to the playoffs.

I believe Super Bowl or bust is flawed thinking early in the year. The title of this thread is " The sky isn't falling" and it won't be unless we lose 3-4 straight. I don't think that is going to happen.

As much as we want to win even the franchises that are considered " the best" don't always win, see the Giants, last years Steelers and the Bears in recent years.

Perhaps Thomas D. has made small mistakes that one season add up to a bad season. Ryan is getting better under pressure; I saw a lot of good in him Sundaythat was even better than that I saw before. With even a little blocking Steven Jackson looks like a very good all purpose back.

I like our first two draft picks a lot. There's a lot to be pleased about; and plenty of concerns. My concern is when you go 13-3 and folks are still not happy with your head coach and G.M. then most likely you may not be happy. You have to catch a lot of breaks to get to A Super Bowl; and actually all these very close games we've been winning could go the other way.... We'll see more Sunday.

Maybe we can get Leeman Bennett back. He got us really close to the SB. Or Reeves. Why did we lose the game? A million things and a couple. I would humbly suggest that if Julio doesn't fumble that ball it is a very different game. Smitty is not Sean Payton. This is certain. Maybe every team is going to start running a variation of the hurry option read O. Or maybe there is still a place in the league for people like Ryan and Peyton Manning? I just know that dismantling this staff and FO after all their success would be nuts. Call me a Schottenheimerist but it seems to me that SD has been pretty crummy since they dumped him and headed for greener and bolder pastures.

To be fair, I also pointed out the tangible issues that are plaguing us right now. Of course, you call that, "crying over spilled milk."

The only tangible way to measure the quality of a coach is wins and losses. I have pointed out specific issues with Mike Smith and his coaching style, and you can go back and see those issues and how they apply on game day. Then again, it's probably fresh on everyone's minds that I called for Smith's head in the off-season, so I can understand why you'd think that my stance is a bit loony at this point.

I pick on you Robert, because partly I have found many of your posts to be insightful and intelligent over the years, but every now and then I think you will post something that is downright naive.

You talk about having a killer instinct and you've criticized this coaching staff quite a bit. But your mission, should you choose to accept it is to find a team that does have that killer instinct and shows all the traits of the coaching staff you so desire.

And I'm sure you'll probably find that team, and the lone example will be the Patriots. But apparently the difference between you and me is that I don't see 1 team that is the embodiment of all things, means that the Falcons are slacking. Should the Falcons be more like the Pats? Sure. But the fact that they are not is not some crime.

To me your attitude in this regard is like a parent that disowns their kid because they were 18th in their class with a 3.6 GPA rather than #1 with a perfect 4.0.

Many of the complaints I hear about the Falcons, and I think you more so than anybody else on this board embodies this at times, IMO sound like the complaints of people that rarely watch any other football besides the Falcons. Thus why I say people judge the Falcons in a vacuum. If you watched other football games, you would discover that many of your complaints/criticisms about the Falcons are commonplace with the other 31 NFL teams around the league. And I think if you were aware of that you wouldn't criticize as much.

I'm not saying you shouldn't be allowed to criticize, because if people stopped being critical, then no one would ever visit this site or forum.

Look, I'm well aware of the fact that the Falcons typically only have 2 good quarters in a game, and that for the other 2 quarters of their typical game, they are outplayed.

But you think that is because of the "culture" instilled by a lesser coaching staff, and I think it has everything to do with talent. But again, that's another point of contention because you are very much on record saying you think this Falcon team is one of the most talented in the league, and I disagree.

That's the point I kept trying to illustrate after the 49ers loss. The Falcons were BOTTOM FIVE in 3 MAJOR AREAS of their team last year: running the ball, rushing the passer, and stopping the run. That's a team that is not supposed to win as many games as we do. But we manage to do that because we have a good QB and our coaching staff mines the most out of that subpar talent.

Look at the Bengals. People give Mike ZImmer a lot of credit for coaching up that young defense into one of the best in the league. And he deserves all the creidt in the world, but he has had loads of talent to work with. Carlos Dunlap, Vontaze Burfict, Geno Atkins were 1st round talents that dropped because of character concerns. Rey Maualuga, Devon Still, Michael Johnson were 1st round talents that dropped because they had disappointing senior years in college. Leon Hall, Dre Kirkpatrick, Pacman Jones, Terrence Newman and Reggie Nelson (and each were widely considered the best or 2nd best player at their position in their respective drafts) were all actual 1st round picks. Basically with the exception of Domata Peko, Robert Geathers, and James Harrison, nearly everybody (10 in total) on their defense was hailed at one point in their football playing careers to be a talent worthy of a Top 15 pick.

How about the Falcons? Spoon, Moore? Yes. Moore dropped because of a subpar senior year. Trufant is a 1st round pick, but he was a riser, not a faller and a player that few had in their Top 3 or 4 CBs this year. Osi, Babs were other players that rose from obscurity to becoming 2nd round picks. Samuel is the rare 4th round CB that winds up being a good starter. Biermann is the same for DE. Peters was a 3rd day prospect that was universally considered a reach in Round 3 ahead of Atkins. Nicholas, Dent, more late round risers into the middle rounds. Jerry was another guy that had a strong senior year to propel himself into a 1st round pick, coupled with the fact that there was only 1 good DT in his class (Raji) that pushed him also up boards.

It's things like that which prevent me from jumping on that bandwagon of how awesome the Falcons talent is. Their roster is full of Corey Peters and Kroy Biermanns, 5th round talents that play like 3rd rounders. And then you build a roster full of these players, and then you get some elite players at a couple of other positions (such as Ryan, julio, Gonzo, etc.) and you find yourself to be perennial overachievers.

I'll admit that I do watch the Falcons in a bit of a vacuum at this point. That wasn't always the case, however. Remember that I'm a converted Bears fan, and I have spent a lot of time watching other teams in the past. But due to my life/job, I no longer watch football whenever there's a game on. It's pretty much just the Falcons at this point.

That said, I do believe that on offense, we are one of the most talented teams in the NFL. I believe, and have for a LONG time, that we have chosen to focus on the skill positions and have mostly ignored the line. It seems that we have been conducting an experiment with the line to see just how bad we can let the line become and still be successful. I say this partly in jest, but especially this year, it seems as though we're trying to scrape by with whatever garbage we can acquire.

With regards to the rest of the team, I agree that we're not all that talented. As you said, we have a lot of average talent that plays at a high level. Kudos on Smith and company for that.

The things that kill me about Smitty are what I see on game day. When I see absolute bone-headed clock management, chewing out players after the player makes a great play, and scribbling in his little notebook whenever someone makes a mistake, I just get sick to my stomach. I realize that in the big picture, this is nit picking. However, I can't help but wonder if another coach would do a better job on game day.

All of the above said, this team lives and dies with Matt Ryan. If Smitty were to go away in favor of someone else, I don't think that the Falcons would miss a beat as long as Ryan is under center. I can't say that we'd definitely be better, but I am pretty certain that we'd still be a winning team. Peyton Manning, who many people compare Ryan to, has had winning seasons under four different head coaches.

I'm not heaping all of the blame on Smith for our problems. Far from it. But I do believe that he is part of our game day problems. When he talks about consistency and not making mistakes, I have to point at him and say, "what the hell is going on with clock management?"

I believe it was Parcells who used to say that there are 16 teams that are happy and thinking they are playoff bound and 16 teams unhappy and thinking the playoffs are out of reach.

I didn't watch the game, but didn't the Falcons have a chance to win the game at the end? If Jackson catches the ball, then what would people be talking about Monday? SB bound?

I am the first to complain about a lot of things, but it has only been one game. More games are needed to make an assessment and see trends. Everyone knew the line was going to be a work in progress. Hopefully they get better or the Clabo release will be branded on TD's forehead.

Robert,You do realize that Andy Reid has been one of the worst coaches in regards to clock management over the past decade. I am not using this as an excuse, but to point out that successful coaches have their strengths and weaknesses. Personally, the Falcons should hire someone specifically to help with clock management. Mike Lombardi used to suggest the same thing when reviewing Reid's boneheaded decisions.

I've been pretty good in the past about remaining balanced when it comes to wins/losses. When I see issues, I point them out, even if we win. I most certainly would have been saying the exact same things over the past two days if Jackson had caught that pass.

Here's one for you... Let's assume that Jackson caught that pass and we go up by 1 point with about 40 seconds to go. What if Drew Brees and company had managed to march into field goal range in that time and had won the game on a 45 yard field goal? Then, EVERYONE would be complaining about Smith being dumb with his clock management.

But lets not deal in could haves. Our offensive line got manhandled for 3 quarters on Sunday. That's the biggest problem that we have right now.

It seems that we have been conducting an experiment with the line to see just how bad we can let the line become and still be successful.

RobertAP wrote:

Then, EVERYONE would be complaining about Smith being dumb with his clock management.

No, I'd be complaining about defense and how they would have given up 450+ yards of total offense and couldn't make a stop when the game was on the line.

And I disagree about the clock management thing. There are some situations where some coaching decisions are boneheaded, but Sunday's game IMO was not one of them. Not to mention again, I think bad gameday decisions is very commonplace throughout the league. Even the guru of great gameday management, Bill Belichick, made mistake after mistake in the AFC Championship Game, that some argue cost them the game.

On the spectrum of stupidity/badness, Smitty's decisions yesterday were at the low-end.

That said, I do believe that on offense, we are one of the most talented teams in the NFL. I believe, and have for a LONG time, that we have chosen to focus on the skill positions and have mostly ignored the line. It seems that we have been conducting an experiment with the line to see just how bad we can let the line become and still be successful. I say this partly in jest, but especially this year, it seems as though we're trying to scrape by with whatever garbage we can acquire.

Well knowing your trying to make a point (about lousy lines) I think your right. The only difference is Thomas D. and Coach Smith. Thomas hit on a big Qb and I thinkCoach Smith's ability as a coach is to keep his team together. Not losing 2 straight games very often is a mark of a good coach. Lack of penalties is also a coach's job and its more important than people think.....

Quote:

The Falcons were BOTTOM FIVE in 3 MAJOR AREAS of their team last year: running the ball, rushing the passer, and stopping the run. That's a team that is not supposed to win as many games as we do. But we manage to do that because we have a good QB and our coaching staff mines the most out of that subpar talent.

The above paragraph is a huge statement about Coach Smith as a coach. You know I certainly agree with it. For the record it is obvious Coach Smith as a game day coach is just average. I'll take average or even lower if he can keep getting the most out of his talent!!

The problem this year is I believe by week 16 because of our lack of depth; we will still fall off in these 3 same areas; except maybe worse. I agree our lack of talent on both lines will show up by week 10. (Babs & Osi will show their wear and tear) and our linebackers except for Weatherspoon still need to prove something.

It does seem when we get momentum we really use it; but when we lose it; its gone for awhile. Even when I went to games I still got the Sunday ticket, the one thing I did notice is some teams get blown out on any Sunday; while until now weusually play most teams tough. Not necessarily good, but not many blow outs against us.

I'm halfway through my review of the game and I have to admit, I have a few opinions that I didn't have watching as strictly a fan. Looking forward to writing that up and getting it published Thursday. Completely different format as I wanted to get away from the statistical recap and do more analysis of what actually happened and why. I think it will provide interesting reading and give people things to look for while it's fresh on their minds this weekend.

No more simplified than a fan that simply says the reason why the Falcons didn't score X amount of times is because they lack a killer instinct.

When you go flat in the third Qtr in big games time after time, after time... I call that not having a 'killer instinct'

(We scored 129 points in the fourth qtr last year and 68 in the third)

Some people don't want to look at Smitty because of his record, but there is a reason the same problems persist even though personnel changes (OC, DC, players). We can't rise to the challenge of making a statement in big games because we don't have a coach who prides himself in making statements through his playcalling.. I can only think of two games off the top of my head in the last four years where Smitty 'poured it on' and didn't turtle up...I'm not asking for a Rex Ryan, but being even keeled gets you a ton of regular season wins because you can beat weak teams, but you struggle with teams who are better at getting up for the game. We have a Porsche, and get off the block fast, then drive it like a Prius. When we get up by 10-17 points, we go into TOP mode, and the team flatlines. This not only happens in BIG games, it is almost a hallmark of the teams identity, at this point...

This picture below shows it exactly:

Except, there are more teams below the middle line because of our talent. The teams above it (Playoff teams) are the teams we need to beat consistently if we want a SB... Those are the teams in our way. Coaches like Smitty struggle to do this. For example, look at Dungy and Manning..... Neither could rise to the challenge. The only reason they got a SB Ring was because they saw Grossman and Smith in the end. When they ran into Brees and Payton, we saw what happened. Look at the teams who have played in the last 3 SBs and how they performed in big games (Packers, Steelers, Giants, Pats, Ravens, Niners). They went for the jugular in big games. They don't let up in the third quarter.

I hope Smitty learns this lesson. Soon. This getting up to a big lead, then stalling has got to go....

(We scored 129 points in the fourth qtr last year and 68 in the third)

We were 13-3 last year for crying out loud (:

If we're leading at half then perhaps teams make adjustments; but by those scores we adjust back. You guys have seen the best Falcon football these last 5 years except for maybe a year here or there over our history. We've made it to one Super Bowl, do you really expect one this year??

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